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An insect that can infest and damage hundreds of hectares of maize fields, literally overnight, is sweeping across Asia – alarming smallholder farmers and threatening livelihoods – but the damage can be limited, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today. Fall Armyworm is native to the Americas. However, since 2016 it has been aggressively moving ever eastwards, sweeping across Africa, and making landfall for the first time in Asia last summer. Fall Armyworm (FAW) was first detected in India in July 2018 and by January of this year, it had spread to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and China’s Yunnan Province.

At its triennial Review Conference of Member Countries in Egham, UK, on 26-27 July, CABI launched a major new initiative to protect vulnerable rural communities in the fight against invasive alien species. Building on its 100-year track record in invasive species management, CABI will deliver a unique global programme to support 50 million vulnerable African and Asian farming families impacted by species that are out of control and threatening their livelihoods. This will link with, and build upon, the highly successful CABI-led Plantwise programme, which has already reached nearly 5 million farmers in 34 countries. Over the coming months and years, CABI will focus on tackling some of the worst alien invaders in Africa and Asia - weeds, insects and diseases that devastate crops and pastureland, as well as deplete the many natural resources on which rural communities rely.

CABI scientists have today warned of the impending rapid spread of the crop-devastating pest, fall armyworm, across Asia following its arrival in India, with major crop losses expected unless urgent action is taken. The warning comes following a pest alert (PDF | 42 KB) published this week by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on the website of one of its bureaux, NBAIR, confirming the discovery of fall armyworm in the southern state of Karnataka. CABI scientists warned Asia was at risk from fall armyworm following the pest's rapid spread across Africa in 2017.

Fig Buttercup (Ficaria verna, formerly Ranunculus ficaria) is an early-blooming perennial with origins in Europe and northern Africa. It is also called Lesser Celandine, and it is sometimes confused with Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris). More recently, its behavior has transitioned or is in the process of transitioning to that of an aggressive invasive species that threatens bottomlands throughout its adopted range. Even after its invasiveness was recognized, many people did not anticipate that it would behave invasively in the South, as it has begun to do. Be a Citizen Scientist— We are asking you to help us scout areas near you where it is likely to be found, so that emerging infestations can be documented, treated and monitored.

The emerald ash borer, a beetle pest that has devastated ash trees throughout the eastern United States, was officially detected in Greenville, Oconee and Spartanburg counties in August 2017. According to a Clemson University press release, the beetles were found Aug. 3 during a routine check of Emerald Ash Borer traps and confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In response to the discovery of EAB in the Upstate, the State Crop Pest Commission likely will establish a quarantine area involving at least the three affected counties; it is also possible the quarantine could be expanded to additional counties or even the entire state.